The U.S. EPA has finalized its rule requiring greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters to annually collect data and report emissions levels, but has decided not to include ethanol producers on its initial list of emitters. In its proposal, released in March, the EPA included the ethanol industry as one of the main categories of GHG emitters. In response to comments submitted after the agency's released proposal, however, the EPA has decided to remove ethanol from its list of source categories while it further evaluates comments and options.READ MORE

The Algaeus, a vehicle that runs on algae-based fuel, recently finished a cross-country trip to promote the film "FUEL," and now will be featured on a college educational tour around the nation. The car, based on a 2008 Toyota Prius with an added battery pack, a plug and an advanced energy management system, finished its 10-day tour from San Francisco to New York City Sept. 18. The unmodified engine got an average 147 miles per gallon (mpg) city in plug-in electric hybrid mode (PHEV) and 52 mpg highway in hybrid mode, according to Sapphire Energy, the company that made the fuel blend.READ MORE

Anglesey Aluminum Metals Ltd., Holyhead, Wales, has submitted an application for approval of a 299-megawatt biomass power plant to be located near the company's aluminum smelter and possibly power it. If approved, the plant would consume about 2.4 million tons of woody biomass, such as wood chips, pellets or agricultural residues, per year.READ MORE

Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., have unveiled the first draft of legislation which requires emissions be reduced to 97 percent of 2005 levels by 2012, 80 percent by 2020, and 17 percent by 2050, through implementation of a Pollution Reduction and Investment system. In the House, the bill was titled the American Clean Energy and Security Act, and is now the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act.READ MORE

Global biofuel use may double by 2015. That's the finding from a new study produced by Hart's Global Biofuels Center, a division of Hart Energy Publishing LP, one of the world's largest energy industry publishers. The report, "Global Ethanol and Biodiesel Outlook 2009 to 2015," predicts the U.S. will lead this growth, increasing biofuels consumption by more than 35 percent over the six-year term. Brazil is expected to increase domestic supplies of biofuel by more than 30 percent, and double their current export levels.READ MORE

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is co-sponsoring a bill with Sens. John Tester, D-Mont., Max Baucus, D-Mont., Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Tom Udall, D-N.M., that would promote the implementation of biochar production technologies using excess plant biomass on public land. The Water Efficiency via Carbon Harvest and Restoration Act of 2009 would establish U.S. Department of Interior and USDA loan guarantee programs to develop biochar demonstration projects, including mobile and fixed biochar production units.READ MORE

With funding from the U.S. EPA's Blue Skyways Collaborative, the U.S. DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., has developed a Web-based, interactive geospatial application that allows users to view biomass resources, infrastructure and other relevant information, as well as query specific data and conduct initial screening analyses. Users can select a location on the map, quantify the biomass resources available within a user-defined radius, and then estimate the total thermal energy or power that could be generated by recovering a specific portion of that biomass.READ MORE